Spring-loaded hasp fastenings for boxes, travel bags and the like



April 17, 1962 c. w. B. CHENEY 3,030,137

SPRING-LOADED HASP FASTENINGS FOR BOXES, TRAVEL BAGS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 22, 1959 1 CHARMS w. 5. CHfNEX 05654 $50, BY 564N675 MA/U/A/ TOM/f/A/S'O/V HOWARD W/LZ/AM CHE/VF), GORDON MERE/CK SHERWOOD, XCU70RS,

4H5 kgur United States Patent Q 3,030,137 SPRING-LOADED HASP FASTENINGS FOR BOXES, TRAVEL BAGS AND THE LIKE Charles William Blake Cheney, deceased, late of Olton, England, by Francis Martin Tomkinson, Birmingham, Howard William Cheney, Shipton-on-Stour, and Gordon Merrick Sherwood, Birmingham, England, executors, assignors to C. W. Cheney & Son Limited, Birmingham, England, a corporation of Great Britain Filed Sept. 22, 1959, Ser. No. 841,568 4 Claims. (Cl. 292-113) This invention relates to spring-loaded hasp fastenings for boxes, travel bags and the like comprising a body part and a lid part, the said fastening being of the toggle kind comprising an attachment plate, a manually operable, spring-loaded, lever member pivoted by a pin to opposite side lugs thereof, and a hasp link pivoted to said lever member, the spring load permitting said member to have a snap action into two predetermined positions consisting of the release position, and the overcentre fastening position of the hasp link to a catch plate, respectively.

A problem which arises in the mass production of such fastenings, is that the effort exerted by the lever mainly in bringing the hasp link into fastening engagement with the catch plate frequently imposes such stresses on the pivot pin as to cause distortion either of the pin or at the bearings for the pin provided in said side lugs. Sometimes the pivot pin becomes bent, or the lugs on the attachment plate which provide the bearings for the pin become distorted from their normal parallel disposition.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive solution to this problem in order to increase the strength and reliability of the fastening.

According to the present invention in a fastening of the type referred to, the attachment plate is provided with an integral cross bar extending between the side lugs, said cross bar serving as a tie bar between said lugs for resisting displacement thereof under stresses imposed by the toggle action of the lever and the hasp link.

According to a further feature of the invention, the cross bar is slotted for reception of a pilot dowel depending from the catch plate.

In one form of construction of fastening according to the invention, the attachment plate, which is usually secured to a box body, has pierced, coaxial side lugs for the pivot pin of the lever and the lugs are coupled by an integral cross bar. The latter has a central pilot hole for reception of a pilot dowel depending from the catch plate which is usually fixed to the lid of the box.

A blade spring, which biases the lever, has two prongs which co-operate with spaced, inwardly directed tongues at the pivotal end of the lever. The said spring may be fixed to the attachment plate either by a rivet, or mechanically secured thereto by bending and pressing inwardly a free end part of the attachment plate over an anchorage part of the spring.

According to a modification, the said blade spring is substituted by a torsion spring which encircles the pivot pin, one tail of the spring being anchored to the attachment plate and the other tail acting on the hasp link, whereby upon an initial movement of the lever member in the direction of release the energy stored in the spring imparts a rapid movement to the lever and a corresponding releasing movement to the hasp link.

In order that the invention will be thoroughly understood, forms of construction of spring-loaded hasp fasteners are illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hasp fastener in the position of release.

FIG. 2 is a section of (FIG. 1 taken on the dotted line 2-2.

3 F516. 3 is a section of FIG. 2 taken on the dotted line FIG. 4 is a section similar to FIG. 2 of a modification. As will be observed in the drawing with reference to *FIGS. 1-3, the toggle fastening comprises an attachment plate 6 which is intended to be riveted at 7 to the body part of a box or the like 8, and a catch plate 9 on a further attachment plate 10 adapted to be riveted at 11 to the lid part 12 of the box or the like. The attachment plate 6 has a manually operable lever 13 formed with side flanges 14 which are pivoted by means of a pivot pin 15 to parallel side lugs 16 integral with and extending forwardly of the attachment plate 6. A hasp link 17,

also formed with opposite side flanges 18, is pivoted by a pin 19 to the lever 13, the free end of the hasp link 17 having a hooked end 20 for engagement with and disengagement from the catch plate 9. The inner end 21 of the lever member 13 is bent into a tongue 22 which engages the tip of a blade spring 23 secured to the front face of the attachment plate 6. These components are mass-produced as sheet metal pressings.

In operation the fastening is capable of having a snap action into two predetermined positions, namely, the release position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the connected position between the hooked end 20 and the catch plate 9, consequent upon the downward pivotal movement of the lever 13.

The problem above referred to is avoided according to the present invention by cross coupling the side lugs 16 by means of an integral .cross bar 24, the said bar forming a tie between the lugs 16 for resisting displacement thereof under such stresses as occur during the opera tion of the toggle action of the lever 13 and the hasp link 17. The cross bar 24 is formed with a slot 25 for reception of a pilot dowel 26 depending centrally from the base of the catch plate 9.

The slotted cross bar 24, 2.6 provides two advantages, first it resists displacement of the side lugs 16 when the operating lever 13 is under load and prevents distortion of the hinge pin 15, and secondly, the slot 25 receives the pilot dowel 26 which ensures that the catch plate 9 is aligned with the attachment plate 6 so that the movement transmitted to the hasp link 17 by the operating lever 13 will efliciently couple the hooked end 20 with the catch plate 9.

The blade spring 23 is preferably secured to the attachment plate 6 by means of an integral tubular eyelet. 27 formed integral with the attachment plate 6.

Alternatively, the spring 23 may be substituted by a torsion spring 28 (FIG. 4). In this construction, the coiled body of the spring 28 encircles the pivot pin 15 and one tail 29 has a hooked end which is anchored in a hole 31 in the attachment plate 6 and the other tail 31 is bent around the pivot pin 19. It will be understood that when the operating lever 13 is initially moved upwardly for disconnecting the hasp link 17 from the catch plate 9, the energy stored in the spring 26 imparts a rapid movement to the lever 13 and a corresponding quick releasing movement to the hasp link 17, these positions being illustrated in FIG. 4.

The side flanges 14 of the lever 13 provide a shallow recess for reception of a key-operated locking mechanism, the latter not shown, being adapted in the locking position to co-operate with an upwardly turned lug 32 spaced from the outer face of the attachment plate 6.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toggle acting hasp fastening for boxes and travel bags, having a body and a lid each having a generally vertical wall, said fastening comprising a catch :members for the lid, and attachment plate adapted to be secured to the said body and formed at its upper part with integral side lugs having co-axial holes for a pivot pin, a manually operable lever formed as a sheet metal pressing and having a body part and opposite integral :side flanges so as to form a recess in the back of said lever, said flanges being pivoted to said side lugs by said pin, a spring biasing said lever, a hasp link also consisting of a body part and integral side flanges, said side flanges being pivoted to said side flanges of said lever, and a hook .at the free end of said hasp adapted to engage and disengage said catch member upon operation of said lever, the provision of an integral cross bar formed at the upper part of the attachment plate, said cross bar extending between said lugs and coupling said lugs, said cross bar being disposed close to the pivot pin to prevent deformation of the lugs in the region of the pivot pin.

2. A fastening according to claim 1, wherein said crossbar is slotted for reception of a dowel depending from said catch member.

3. A fastening according to claim 1, wherein the spring .is a blade having a hole which engages an integral tube References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,503,462 Albert Aug. 5, 1924 1,521,082 Duggan Dec. 30, 1924 1,603,418 Scheider Oct. 19, 1926 2,374,687 Komenak May 1, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS I 64,222 Denmark Dec. 27, 1945 382,769 Great Britain Nov. 3, 1932 

